Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing

Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg's moving HBO documentary Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing, produced with help from the Boston Globe, can be viewed as a thoughtful study of the lessons of magnitude.

Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing has many rewards, disjointed though they may be.

For intimate narratives that are about incomplete or in-progress healing, and the elements of lives that are changed forever, the approach can feel too tidy.

Proving not for the first time that the worst of times can bring out the best is one of the things this strong documentary is all about.

It focuses, rightly so, on the survivors, still courageously trying to overcome their wounds - and on those who didn't survive, to whom the film is dedicated.

It's [Patrick Downes' and Jessica Kensky's] story, still so unresolved, that hits home the hardest.

As directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg, Marathon benefits from the filmmakers clear-eyed, meticulous chronology of the events and their steady focus on the survivors.

Watch it. Give yourself time for a good cry and to have your faith reaffirmed about the incredible city we call home.

Marathon: The Patriots Day Bombing is both a comprehensive look at the reprehensible act of terrorism at the worldwide event, but a deeply human one, that follows a trio of families... even as they try to move past it.